In the year 2292, Edward Deegan
by Gingertreat
Summary: Edward and my own OC. Cause Edward is the best.
1. Chapter 1

I'm drunk ^-^

* * *

New Year's Eve, year 2292. And another year is dawning, Edward tried shaking his head to clear his mind of all the fuzzy thoughts. But there was no use. Too much alcohol. He groaned softly and took another swig of the wine bottle. The booze was empty.

"Damned, Eddie, it's not even 2 o'clock and you're completely wasted. I hope you can pay for all this!" Magnolia pointed to the dozens of empty bottles on the bar top, next to Edward. He twisted on the stool and faced the aging formerly singer.

"Magnolia, Darling, if you want payment I can give you my skills or my body, but nothing else, I'm afraid." She let out a loud tsk and started to put away the empty bottles.

Edward smirked at her and turned to the room again, one elbow on the bar, the other arm on his thigh so that the bottle dangled casually between his legs. He knew, that he didn't need to pay. He did enough to earn his keep in Goodneighbor.

* * *

Damn these mutants, damn these mutants, she chanted in her head as she tried not to fall out of blood loss and exhaustion. She knew, if she fell now, she would never get up again. "Keep walking and damn these fucking mutants.

It's not too far, common, you lazy bitch, move your skinny ass and try to not die." She grunted at herself, bared her teeth and limped towards the lights.

* * *

They lit a few old and home-made fireworks at 12 o'clock, but like usually in the third rail, things got heated later that night. They were all pretty buzzed and some of the girls started dancing on the empty stage. All the men, including Edward turned to watch, some cheered them on.

Macready stumbled to the bar. "Whiskey, my beautiful magnolia." He ordered. She crossed her arms and glared at Edward. "We don't have any. Thanks to him." She nodded towards Edward. "you must be kidding. Then give some else hard liquor." He peered over to the dancing girls who started to touch each other. The young man smiled at the sight. Magnolia, tired of him, put both hands on the bar top and spoke a little louder.

"You don't get it. He did not drink all the whiskey. He drank all the booze. I can only offer you beer or wine." With this, she got the attention of the man. "You're joking." He stated and looked at Edward. He bends forward and brought his face close to Edwards. "How can you still be alive." He whispered with pure admiration.

Edward fished a cigarette pack out of the back of his jeans, and lit himself one. "The perks of ghoulification." He mumbled bitter. Macready pulled a stool next to him and sat down swaying. Edward lifted one former eyebrow to this and shook his head. The younger man watched mesmerised the show of the two girls. The blond one now undressed the brunette and the crowd cheered. Macready hollered.

* * *

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" a super mutant shouted nearby. She almost jumped in fear but pulled herself together and shuffled towards some debris that probably lay there for decades. She could hear a mutant hound howling and sniffing as she pushed herself between some broken concrete slabs just in time to stay unnoticed.

A group of super mutants walked by, weapons ready. "I saw little human. I'm not stupid." Shouted a taller one but walked by her hide-out without noticing her. She tried to keep her breathing slow and silent, but it was difficult for her with all the pain in her side. She pressed the old cloth harder against the bloody wound as a mutant hound sneaked up to the pile of debris. It sniffed and pried around.

The hound took a step closer, watching the concrete with interest. For a moment it stood still but then it crooked its neck and got into stalking position, body low to the ground. Desperate she tried not to breath, not to make any kind of noises. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her heart hammering against her ribcage.

Slowly, she was counting in hope, that that beast would just go away. A howl rang through the air. Her eyes snapped open just to see the hound climbing up the pile of debris. It went right to her hide-out and started digging. She was trapped. "Found you!" a mutant yelled as it climbed up with the other three. She pressed herself closer between the slabs in complete panic.

* * *

Edward chugged the wine, put the empty bottle with a loud clang on the bar and went for a piss. He didn't like wine, but it was better than the stale, old, warm beer. He opened the door and heard stifled noises from one of the stalls. The regular rhythm of wet meat smacking together was all too familiar and he turned in the doorway. He would go outside to piss.

* * *

The pile of concrete shook and then small pieces of concrete started to crumble before the whole mountain of garbage broke together. A huge cloud of dust emerged from it, covering everything and everyone. She was trapped under a piece of concrete but with a little effort she pushed it away and wiggled herself free.

she was lucky that she survived that, but the mutants survived that too for sure! She looked for the lights she was heading too and started to half run, half limping in that direction. There was no time to lose!

* * *

The night was cold and Edward wished he would have taken his coat with him, but who could know that the toilet was kinda occupied. Now he was cold in his undershirt and jeans. His armour was in his room in the old state house. Ham, the doorman looked at him and nodded as a greeting. Edward nodded back and stumbled around the corner heading towards the exit of goodneighbor.

* * *

Just a few more steps and she would come round the corner and see her destination, her save haven. Pointy teeth digged into her ankle and she groaned in pain as she hit the ground. Desperate she kicked the hound with her free leg but it just shook her fiercely until she thought it hat bit her foot of. The pain was unbearable and she screamed again.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a tall figure heading towards her. Only one super mutant survived, it seemed. It got closer and got his weapon ready. The super mutant hesitated. "No. no killing. You be my pet."

She froze in fear as he laughed and laughed while he pulled his hound off of her. Crying and in panic she crawled towards a car to hide under it. She knew, there was no use to it, but she couldn't just give up. He smirked as he watched her trying to get away, slowly he followed her, enjoying this little play of his power.

* * *

He closed the makeshift door as he stepped outside of goodneighbor hurrying over to the next brick wall. The sound of a zipper was heard than sound of water hitting stone. He needed to steady himself with his forearm against the wall, otherwise he would piss over his boots, and he liked his boots.

Someone screamed and he smirked. The people in goodneighbor are really overdoing it this year. He closed his pants and searched his body for the pack of cigarettes as someone screamed again. He looked in the direction it came from and just saw the arm of a super mutant disappearing behind the corner. He stood there for a moment, shook his head in disbelieve.

How much did he had? No matter if he hallucinated it or not. He needed to check this out. Super mutants didn't come this close to goodneighbor usually. They knew it was protected. He reached for his assault rifle but his finger grasped at nothing. He cursed and pulled some reinforcement bars with some concrete left on it out of some heap of garbage.

Edward rounded the corner and saw a super mutant next to a car with a mutant hound next to him. It bleed from the leg. Without hesitation, Edward sneaked forward and smashed its skull with a strong swing. It felt dead to the ground. The hound turned around and attacked the big ghoul. He blocked the attack and thrust it backwards, hauled off and hit the hound on the side of the head. It lurched a bit and collapsed dead next to its owner.

Edward looked around for other super mutants but couldn't find any. Tired and still drunk he headed back to goodneighbor.

Edward was half on the way to the wall as he heard a whisper, he turned and saw someone barely walking, limping towards him. Both hands on the bloody left side, the right foot trailed behind. She tried to say something but her leg gives away and she fell to the ground. Edward lost the grip on his club as he launched forward. He kneeled beside her in the blink of an eye. Green eyes starred at him.

Good, she was still conscious, he thought. He picked her up with ease and ran to the door that lead to goodneighbor.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

"Edward, who is that, what happened" asked the neighbourhood watchmen who sat at the bench right in front of kill or be killed. He did not answer and kept running. They had no actual medic in goodneighbor, but when something happened, doctor Amari had never refused to help.

So he ran to the memory den, kicked the door open and yelled:" Doctor! I need help! Now!" the memory den was empty, lights off and Edward panicked. "Doctor Amari!" he screamed now. He looked left and right thinking about what to do. Warm blood was seeping between his fingers and dribbled down on the floor. Finally, he heard footsteps upstairs and soon after, he saw the head of Doctor Amari looking downstairs.

Her eyes went big and round. "Go downstairs, I'm coming!" in the small clinic in the basement of the memory den he put the woman gentle down on a table. He had swept it beforehand with his elbow. The patient grimaced but kept quiet. Her breathing was too short and shallow, her skin hot, heart racing. Doctor Amari bolted into the room with flowing lab coat and looked over his shoulder while sanitizing her hands with moonshine.

"Get her into the light." Without a second thought he lifted the table and carried it carefully into the middle of the room. Doctor Amari looked at the patient for a second and the shook her head. Fear crawled up his neck. "Not enough light. Get upstairs, there must be some construction lights, bring them." She grabbed the scissors as Edward ran upstairs and cut the leather chest piece off the young woman. She hissed but Amari didn't pay attention to her, completely in her element.

Edward was already back and placed the lights on another table behind the doctor. "better." She turned and filled a syringe with med-x. "This won't be easy. Not sure if she makes it. Better if she is not conscious." She stated in a hushed voice to Edward. She faced the patient again, grabbed one arm and got the syringe ready. The woman groaned and shook her head, tried to pull her arm away. "Honey, it's just a little prick."

"No." she coughed out along with some blood. Edward grabbed a washcloth and pat the blood away. "I.." she spoke hoarse. "I took psycho and buffout." More she could not say, too occupied with breathing. Doctor Amari looked at her annoyed. "A 'right, sweetie. Eddie, hold her still. We have to do it without Med-x." She sighed and grabbed the moonshine. "What is your name, sweetie?" She coughed some blood again.

"Te…Teresa." "This will hurt, Teresa. Like hell. The sooner you pass out, the better. Don't fight it." She nodded towards Edward and he placed one arm across her hip and one below her collarbones. "On Three." Amari said. "One…" she poured the Moonshine all over the wound. Teresa screamed shrill, draw a breath and continued. Amari worked fast. She opened the wound a little further, cauterized, stitched, looked for new leaking wounds and continued with the procedure until she was pleased. She stitched the foot long wound close and applied two stimpaks. Teresa had lost consciousness half way in the operation.

Doctor Amari threw some self-made bandages to Edward. "Wrap her up. I'll look at her ankle." Obedient he stood up from the sofa and started to wind the bandages round her lower torso. The ankle seemed not as troublesome as her belly wound. Luckily her organs weren't injured. If that were the case, she could not have helped her. "Who is she?" The doctor asked. "I don't know." Edward answered. Amari was waiting for some explanation but Edward stayed silent.

"Could you elaborate?" He looked at her shortly before he continued wrapping the girl up gingerly. "I went outside for a piss and she laid there." He didn't want anyone to know that he killed her assaulters without noticing her. Thank god she managed to walk after him. "I see." Said the doctor unconvinced. "We are done. I will look after her so you can head back to the bar." That was no suggestion. It was an order. She probably thought that he assaulted her himself in a drunk delirium. He couldn't blame her. She knew everything. Without a word he left.

The third Rail was almost empty. Magnolia tidied up, put the chairs on the tables and fished some garbage from the floor. "Eddie, where have you been? You missed the show." He looked at her questioning. She smirked and gestured him to follow. In the backroom laid MacCready with the two girls, naked. "Damn, they settled for him? Can't believe it. If I were here, they would have taken me instead."

Magnolia smiled at him knowingly. "Sure, honey." He went back to the bar, not wanting the three to be disturbed and Magnolia followed. Edward lit a cigarette, handed it to Magnolia but she refused as usually. "So, were where you? Another one of your secrets?" He shook his head and let the smoke escape through his rotten nose. "Do you have some wine for me? I need a drink." Magonlia rolled her eyes but handed him a bottle of white wine. "Great, now I'm even forced to drink pussy wine." "What do you say?" she hissed at him. He grumbled something but pulled the cork with his teeth and gulped it down.

He wiped his mouth with his bare forearm, still not wearing a coat. "Can you explain now to whom all this blood belongs?" she pointed at his white undershirt which was soaked in blood. "I found a girl, she was wounded but Amari saved her." Magnolia crooked an eyebrow. "A girl." "Young woman." He corrected himself. "In the middle of the night. On New Year's Eve. You sure she ain't just some raider bitch?" "I am" he claimed emphatically. "So, what now?" he shrugged. "Amari watches over her until she is better, I think."

Teresa woke up a few hours later. Everything hurt, to blink hurt, to move her eyeballs hurt, breathing hurt…a lot. She tried to look around but a stabbing pain stopped her. She let out a grunt. Doctor Amari, who was taking a nap on the sofa woke up immediately. She stood up and hurried over. "You're already awake? Tough one, aren't you?" she laid a hand on her forehead but nodded and smiled.

"where." A cough stopped her question and Amari opened a can of purified water for her. She helped Teresa to drink. "You are in goodneighbor. Don't worry, you are safe here." "Goodneighbor" she repeated and doze off again. Amari made use of the opportunity to check her wounds which seemed to heal well. "What were you doing outside in the night? Don't you know this city is full of monsters?" she hugged herself and looked up at the ceiling.

Edward emptied his wine and soon after, Magnolia kicked him out. He would just be in the way while she needed to clean up, she claimed. So he went to his room in the old state house. He was dead tired and laid down on his bed roll, expecting to fall asleep immediately. After a few hours of toss and turn he finally gave up. Edward put on his armour and his thick coat over it. He shoulderd his assault rifle and left goddneighbor. Nobody noticed.

"This is so tasty!" Teresa declared and took another bite of the Mirelurk egg omelette Irma had made her for breakfast. Teresa was still in the basement but Amari allowed her to move her sick bed to the sofa. There she sat now, smiling and eating. "Amari chuckled. "at least someone who likes your cooking." "that's not true!" Irma scolded her girlfriend. Teresa put the empty plate aside.

"So, when am I allowed to walk around." Amari sat down beside her. "I think; you should take it slow. Maybe tomorrow we help you get upstairs and the day after that we can think about letting you outside." Teresa tried not to look too disappointed. "Why do you want to get up so soon?" Irma asked her. "I need to know, what happened to my Caravan. I'm sure the Brahmin is dead." Amari nodded in realization. "oh, so you're a caravaneer?" Teresa shook her head. "I'm the guard." The women fell silent. "but you're so young." Irma remarked.

"I know. And that was my first job. I need to know if my merchant survived. I told him to run and he did. If he didn't make it, I'll never get another job. How am I supposed to make a living then?" she worried. "oh gosh, I need to pay you, too. You saved my life!" she blurted out. Irma gave Amari a look that she should say something. "Don't worry, Teresa. Just. I don't know. Pay us when you can." She looked first at Amari, than at Irma. "Oh, no. I couldn't, I could never walk out of here without paying you. You saved my life." Amari sighed. "You should focus on your recovery for now. Doctor's order." Teresa nodded but was still worried. "Common, Irma. We will let her sleep." Teresa had snapped up.

"Wait. Do you know the man who rescued me? I wanted to thank him. Maybe if you two see him somewhere you could ask him to visit me?" Irma looked at Amari, unsure what to say. "Maybe you can look for him yourself when you are good enough to walk around. Don't worry about him. Try to sleep for now."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

The sun didn't make it past the tall buildings of Boston yet when Edward lit a cigarette just outside of Goodneighbor. He felt better already. Like a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders. He wondered where he wanted to go. Bunker hill was his usually hide out if he messed up things again in Goodneighbor, but he didn't want to be near someone.

At least not someone , north was not an option. East was just the sea and somehow he wasn't in the mood for a walk on the beach. Maybe he should just go into the city, kill some Raiders, some Super mutants. Sounded like a plan, he smirked with the cigarette between his lips. Maybe it was time for him to start looking for a combat armor left arm. He shouldered his Assault rifle and left.

Teresa tried to sleep. She really did, but somehow she couldn't forget what Irma said to her. "Maybe you can look for him yourself" It sounded so wrong, so… she carefully rolled on her back. How did it sounded? She couldn't put a finger on it.

Teresa put her arm up and laid her head on it, trying to find a comfortable position on this old knobbly sofa. A spring poked her spine. With a disgruntled sigh she got up, threw her cushion on the floor and settled there. She pulled the blanket over her body. "Don't worry about him:" she heard Irmas word in her head. Her eyes flicked open. Maybe, there was a reason to worry about him.

Carefully she got up and steadied her body against the table. Her vision was blurry for a moment, but it quickly passed. She grabbed her leather jacket which was luckily not shredded by Amaris scissors and pulled on her boots without lacing them. She wore only the shorts she was wearing when she got attack, but she couldn't imagine herself pulling her leather pants on. It would hurt too much. Wary, she climbed the stairs up and headed for the door. It was cold outside and Teresa slung her jacket around her shoulders.

She stood there for a while, unsure what to do when a ghoulette with a blond wig approached her. "You all right?" she asked with scepticism in her voice. She looked her over and her gaze stuck at her half naked legs. "Uh, yeah. Actually, I'm looking for someone. The man who rescued me? Maybe you could tell me where to find him?"

The ghoulette looked confused but slowly her face lit with recognition. "Oh, you're the dust biter." Teresa cringed at the statement but she smiled insecure. "Yeah, that could be me." She stated. "Rescued, you say?" The blond woman chuckled raspy. "Whatever helps you stay sane, I guess. Eddie should be in the third rail at this time of the day. You see this building here?" she pointed to the old state house.

"Just go in there and ask for Edward." Without another word she walked away. "Thanks I guess." She muttered. Ham watched her come in and walking downstairs but didn't say a thing. He saw weirder people walk in here.

Magnolia wiped the bar top as she saw the girl standing at the staircase. She immediately knew who she was and dressed like that, she clearly wasn't supposed to be walking around yet. The Brunette woman waved her over. "Hello. Uh. I'm looking for someone." Teresa began as she was at the bar. Magnolia picked up a glass and polished it a bit.

"is that so?" she asked Teresa. She nodded. "Yeah, I'm looking for the man that res.." She paused for a second, remembering the strange comment of the blond ghoulette. "I'm looking for a man. His name should be Edward." Magnolia raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so." Teresa was annoyed. Her head and belly hurt, she was hungry and freezing. "Yes, that is so. Is he here or not?" throwing all kindness away.

"No." Magnolia replied. Teresa sighed. "Can I have a whiskey, then?" she placed some bottle caps on the bar that she always kept in her jacket. "No" Magnolia smirked. "What the fuck is wrong with this town." Teresa grumbled angrily, grabbed her bottlecaps and wanted to leave. She was clearly not welcomed here.

"But I can give you beer or wine." She heard the barmaid say. Teresa turned her head, a confused look on her face. Magnolia shrugged. "Eddie drank all the booze yesterday, you know." She smiled warmly

The bar was almost empty since it was the day after New Year's Eve. So nobody cared for the two women who were chattering all evening at the bar. First it was just small talk, Magnolia told her about the last day when Edward drank all the booze and how many patrons are now grumpy about that. Teresa took occasionally a sip from her warm beer.

"So, why were you even out there in the first place?" Magnolia mustered the tall but thin girl. She showed some scars here and there but nothing that would label her as a scavenger. "I was out with my caravan. The business was not good and my caravaneer took a delivery run here and there. Yeah well, our Brahmin was packed with medical equipment from vault 81 and we were so fucking late. He decided we would take a short cut through the city. At night. I hated the idea and tried to talk him out of it but he was a stubborn bitch. He just walked his way and left me there. I had no choice but to follow him. With me, he would have at least a little chance of surviving. Didn't play out though."

Teresa took her beer in both hands and stared at the bar top. Magnolia flicked her tongue displeased. "Yeah welcome to the wasteland. Full of idiots and dickheads. Next time, you will just let him walk into his death. Stupid guy. Had that coming." Teresa stayed silent for a moment. "dunno." She just said before emptying her bottle. "Got another for a poor, injured caravan guard without a caravan?"

Since when was Boston downtown so boring? Where were all the Raiders and super mutants. Damn, he needed something to shoot. Edward shouldered his assault rifle again. He had just cleared an old building of at least ten Raiders. But that wasn't enough to blow off his steam. He grabbed the small backpack with the loot he had taken and strolled deeper in the city. It was late afternoon and the big ghoul was getting hungry and thirsty.

Maybe it was time to look for a place to settle for the night. He knew, the Boylston club was near. He had been there pre-war with Mr. Cabot a few times. That would do for the night. Edward pushed the elevator button which surprisingly worked. On the upper floor nothing has changed. The tables stood in the same place and even the billiard balls laid in the exact same position as last time.

Mr. Cabot once said, that he never saw someone actually play billiard in the Boylston club. Edward walked over to the bar and grabbed all the booze he could get. With a bottle of a very expansive and old whiskey he went to the dirty and milky windows. With a kick he send the skeleton to the ground which was still sitting in the chair. Probably since the bombs fell. Edward sat down and opened the bottle. The loot cluttered the table in front of him and h pulled a can of pork 'n beans out of the pile.

Nice evening, he thought to himself with a bitter grin.

Loud laughter echoed through the now completely empty bar. It got late and a few empty beer bottles piled up on the bar top. "Can I have the wine cork?" She asked Magnolia with a huge pleasing smile. Magnolia flicked the cork up in the air and Teresa caught it easily.

"What do you need it for?" She pocketed it while she explained. "trying to make my armour lighter. Every evening when I strip it off my shoulders hurt so much from the weight. I don't want that anymore." The girl took the wine glass back in her hand and sniffed on it. "So you say, this is better than beer?" Magnolia grinned, she loved wine, especially old one like this one with a real cork and not just some stopper. "Of course. It is over 200 years old. Before the…well before everything happened there were people collecting these and paying a horrendous amount of money for some bottles."

Teresa sniffed the wine sceptically. "ain't it just fermented juice?" Magnolia stopped for a second, thinking. "I guess. Daisy said, it is made from grapes. But… I don't know what grapes are. They don't exist anymore." Teresa, clearly a bit buzzed thought for a minute. "So, wine can't be produced anymore, right? Than this bottle must be very expansive." Magnolia nodded, finally seeing her spirit for wine in the younger woman's eyes. She lifted her glass. "Cheers!" and Teresa did it likewise.

"Cheers" she answered and they both took a huge gulp of the red liquid. Teresa immediately spit the wine across the bar. "What the fuck. It is just so... sour. Tastes like acid." Magnolia herself didn't swallow the wine, she hurried to the sink and spit it out. Quickly she got two glasses of water for both of them. Teresa emptied it without hesitant. "if I wanted to taste that, I could just drink the liquid from a battery."

Magnolia picked up the bottle and inspected it carefully. "I don't know why it tasted like that. It was supposed to be a good wine! I should ask Daisy about this." "yes, please, Ma'am!" Teresa saluted jokingly. "And now, I would like to have a beer." Magnolia placed it on the bar right before the tipsy caravan guard but another hand snatched it away before Teresa could get a hold of it.

"You bloody bastard" Teresa began and reached for her advanced 10mm pistol. Her hand grasped at her thigh but no pistol was found. At first she panicked but when she looked up to compete her rival she saw a fuming Irma. "Amari is so worried about you. She even wanted to look for you outside of the walls! And you sit here and what? Get drunk? With all the med-x in your blood." She scolded Teresa.

"Wait, I can explain. I wanted to thank Eddie for saving me, but he wasn't here and Magnolia was at first such a bitch to me." She turned to Magnolia. "No offense, honey, you were." And started giggling as Magnolia crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue playfully. Irma interrupted Teresa's spate of words. "Amari spent all morning saving your life and all day looking over you, trying to fix what properly this gun slinger was responsible for." Teresa frowned. "could you say that again?"

Irma hesitated first. "I'm just saying that Edward is probably responsible for the state you were in. Wouldn't be the first time." Magnolia shuffled a bit closer. That was the topic she wanted to ask Teresa all along. "Are you kidding? He saved me!"

Teresa shouted outraged. "He killed the super mutant who did this to me." Her head spun to Magnolia who was leaning against the bar, listening carefully what the girl had to say. "Did you thought that, too?" Magnolia gestured wildly.

"Well, I had my suspicions but I wasn't sure. I'm just… look, Edward has kind of a reputation. And besides, he obviously left Goodneighbor right after he dropped you at the Memory Den." She exhaled deeply. "But if you're sure that he rescued you I'm gonna believe you." "Well, I don't." Irma interjected. She turned and walked towards the staircase.

"By the way, we want our money by the end of the week." She said before leaving.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

Teresa was stunned. "You okay, sugar?" Magnolia asked her. The ginger-haired girl looked at her with round eyes. "No, I don't think so." Her shoulders slumped forward. "How much do you owe them?" Magnolia asked quietly. "I don't know, they didn't tell and I never asked." She buried her face in her hands. "But a full operation, a dozen of stimpaks and almost 24-hour surveillance."

She sighed audible. "Everything valuable I had was on that fucking Brahmin. I only had my rifle, my pistol, some medicals, ammunition and some food on me when the super mutants attacked." she picked up her beer and emptied it completely. "Well, if you want, you can sleep at my place." Magnolia offered. Teresa glanced at her with an exhausted look on her face.

"I would like that." The barmaid came around the counter and sat next to the caravan guard. "And then we will have to find a job for you. Maybe they need a chambermaid at Rexfords. I'll talk to Clair next thing in the morning." Teresa twitched. "Chambermaid? You gotta be kidding. No way I'm doing that!" "As if you've got a choice." Magnolia sounded ruder than she wanted to. "Not a real one. But might be worth trying, though."

"Come on Irma. I just need my pants and the rifle." Teresa didn't sleep a bit after her plan had formed in her head. She got up early in the morning without waking Magnolia and went to the Memory Den. "If you want me to pay my debts, you have to give me my rifle." Irma's expression hardened. "if I give you your stuff you will just vanish." A sigh escaped from Teresa's lips. "I won't." She told the stubborn Bit.. woman, she corrected herself, a million times. "Yeah sure." Irma said sarcastically. "Maybe she can offer something valuable in return."

Amari came forth from behind the curtains as she said it. Teresa huffed annoyed. "Yeah, as if I've got something valuable." Amari shook her head. "I mean valuable for you." The doctor went over to her friend who still laid on the sofa. "Amari, I didn't wanted you to overhear this." The blond woman told her. But the doctor hushed her. "It's all right, Irma. I can handle it." They both focused on the caravan guard. "So, do you have anything." Teresa hesitated. "I…might have something." She opened her jacket and fiddled at her neck until a thin necklace appeared. "These are the dog tags from my father." Teresa handed them over to Irma. They looked really old, coated by a greenish- bronze patina.

"Nah. You could've found them anywhere in the wasteland." Irma threw them back and Teresa caught them mid-air. She squinted her eyes. "I'm starting to really fucking hate you." She grumbled from deep inside as she carefully put the necklace back on. "Oh, as if I care." Irma retorted. Something clicked in Teresa's head. "You know what, Irma? Fuck it. Fuck you. Fuck your caps. I wanted to be a nice girl and pay my debt but now? I feel like you deserve it!" with this she turned and left the Memory Den.

He barfed in the toilet and collapsed next to it right after, one elbow on the lid. What was wrong with him? He never got this affected by alcohol. Sure, he had drunk a lot. He usually does. But he never ever vomited from it. In fact, it wasn't only the nausea. He felt dizzy, his heart raced and he could swear he was sweating. Ghouls don't sweat. They don't. But his skin felt wet and he was shivering. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Maybe it was time for going home. For once, he wanted to sleep in his own bed. Punched a stimpak in the vein of his crook and waited for the effect. Slowly he got up and went for the door.

Teresa rummaged through Magnolias wardrobe and picked one of the few pants she had. They were too big for her but everything was in the wasteland. She just couldn't gain weight so in order to fit them she just rolled the upper edge up. The pants fitted low but at least she wouldn't lose them. Teresa laced up her boot. Nobody cared for her as she left Goodneighbor behind. Outside she put on her grey hood which she sewed on her leather jacket. She was nervous. She had never been without a gun since she was ten.

He made it back to Goodneighbor in about three hours and went straight for the old state house. Edward just wanted to get in his bed and sleep. As he went by Hancock's office he heard Magnolia's furious voice and an annoyed Hancock. "I don't get what you want from me. She stole some trousers from you and now you want us to go after her? If you want new pants and I can buy you some." She grunted loud. "No. I want you to go after her because she JUST took the pants. She has no gun. She will die out there." Edward closed the door behind him and snuggled between his blankets. Not 10 second after he was asleep his door was kicked in. Magnolia stand in front of him. "You look like shit." She hurled at him.

He got up immediately not liking being in a vulnerable position. "Yeah, would like to change that, so could you please leave so I can sleep?" "You have to go after her." Edward took his canteen from the shelf and drank the water. "who?" he asked afterwards. "Your girl." He smirked at the thought. Magnolia was truly skilled. She knew that he would like the idea of having a woman by his side, but he wasn't silly. "Got no girl." She sighed. "Common Edward. You saved her once. You're kinda responsible for her." He chuckled raspy.

"So, now that it comes in handy, you believe that I saved her? Interesting, don't you think?" He went for the only chair in the room, feeling sick again. "You know I only saved her accidentally? I went outside to piss and saw the mutant. Sure I killed it, I'm here for the killing part. But I didn't saw the girl. She went after me and called out. Only then I noticed her." Magnolia got closer. "Maybe you can save her now intentionally." He looked up at her and saw hope in her eyes. "Why is this important to you?" he asked a bit curious. Normally, she didn't care much for people. "Bring her back and I tell you. "He stopped for a second and thought about it. "Nah. Not worth the effort." Magnolia's eyes narrowed.

"No more free booze." At this, she got the mercenaries attention. He got up and opened the upper drawer of his shelf, took some stimpaks and ammunition for his assault rifle, gearing up.

Teresa hugged the shadows. She was damn nervous but at the same time she liked being outside again. The smell of the ruins, although not so familiar soothed her. Normally her caravan route didn't went through the city. They mostly stayed north of it, near to her home settlement. Sadness creeped into her heart when she thought of her home but she tried to suppress it. She is still alive and when everything went as planned there was nothing to worry about. She went left at the next junction, directly heading where they were attacked.

She had considered to scavenge for a weapon but she feared getting in trouble in a building. There were often raiders or ghouls she didn't want to face them without at least a 10mm pistol. She had also thought about getting a melee weapon, there was enough junk lying around but she knew she was too weak for properly fighting with one. She would count on her endurance and perception. If she saw or hear something, she would either hide or run. This always worked for her when she was younger. Teresa slid down the pile of debris and landed silently on her feet, quickly crouching and hurrying to the side of the street for cover. Nothing moved, nobody yelled, so she seemed to be undetected.

Silently she moved alongside the building, carefully placing her feet. Only a few yards in front of her was the next interjection which she needed to cross. These parts were always risky.

Edward was exhausted. He had trudge round all the places were super mutants have taken residence. But no sight of the damn caravan guard. He didn't know what to do, Magnolia was no help at all when he had asked her where to look for her. There was no other way. He went back to Goodneighbor and tried to track her down again from there when she was wounded. The first few blocks were no problem but then, he couldn't find any trail of blood. He examined the ground but no matter how hard he tried, not a clue was found. He dropped his assault rifle and sat down, back leaning against a wall.

At least it was not snowing. Sure, it was winter, but the hard part was still ahead of them. He remembered a winter when the Boston bay was partly frozen. The next summer was heaven. So many raiders, ghouls and super mutant had died that you were able to stroll the city almost like in the old days. He took a sip of his canteen and pulled his tattered scarf over the lower half of his face again.

Teresa stuck out her head from behind the corner. Looking left and looking right. When she was sure it was all clear she ducked and darted across the street to the other side.

Edward just looked up as she was disappearing behind the building. He blinked. Did he saw that really? Was he hallucinating? The buff ghoul stood up, assault rifle in shooting position, following the skinny girl. He rounded the corner and saw the redhead cowering behind a car. She looked over it, twice and then rushed over to the other side of the street. He wanted to call out for her but a loud bang drowned his voice. Teresa froze in the middle of the street as a behemoth walked around the corner of the next street. Edward quickly took cover behind some debris. He knew behemoths were dumb as hell and as long as it didn't saw them, they were save. He peeked out and saw Teresa standing in the middle of the street. The behemoth did not yet saw her. "Fuck." He cursed. Dropped his rifle and sprinted towards her. The behemoth's head turned just as Edward was leaving his hiding place. It growled deafening.

As he reached the girl he wrapped an arm around her waist and took her with him inside the next building. Teresa yelped at the sudden movement. Inside, Edward dumped her behind the old counter and slowly looked around the corner. He saw the lower body of the behemoth in the street. It seemed to look around but apparently didn't saw the two entering the building. Angrily it swung its club and wrecked the upper part of the building they were hiding in. Concrete and bricks rained down on them. Quick-thinking, he pulled Teresa in his embrace and shielded her with his large body. The behemoth trotted slowly away. He sighed relieved. "You…you can let go now." He heard a small voice.

Edward looked down and saw Teresa goggling at him with the biggest eyes he has ever seen. Quickly he let her go. She skidded a bit away from him. Edward was angry with himself. He didn't wanted to let his training take over, overly protecting this girl. Sure, snatching her away from the behemoth super mutant was alright but automatically shielding her was way too much. 200 years of being bodyguard can't be discarded in just a few years, he guessed. "What were you thinking? Standing in the middle of the damn street when a behemoth is just a few yards away?" she frowned. "What I was thinking? What were you thinking?" "Saving your bony ass! That's what I was thinking and doing by the way." He scolded her. She huffed. "Don't you know they are only sensitive to motion? If you stay in one place they don't spot you." He went silent for a second. "And how often did this tactic worked for you?" he asked sarcastically. Teresa hesitated. "I never encountered a behemoth before…" Edward smirked victorious. "All right. Then let's settle on: I saved your dumb head."

He stood up, knocked the dust from his pants and jacket and left the building. Teresa followed as he picked up his luckily undamaged assault rifle. He walked in the direction where he came from in complete believe Teresa would follow him. The red head watched him leave and then turned 90 degrees to walk down the road where the behemoth came from. Edward saw the movement from the corner of his eye and went back furiously. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" She kept walking. "Finding my caravaneer and the damn Brahmin."

He grabbed an arm of her and yanked her around to face him. "No. You will come back with me to Goodneighbor." She sighed. "Did Irma sent you?" he looked puzzled at this. "Uh. No. Why should she?" "I got debts." She smiled sad. "And the only way to pay them is for me to find the damn Brahmin."

She pointed down the road with her thumb. "So, I'll be going this way, see ya." She walked away again. With two big steps Edward had her arm again. "Whoa there! No way I'm going back without you." She tilted her head. "Oh, you're worried about me."

He laughed. "Magnolia won't give me free booze if I don't bring you back. That's all." She smiled. "See, then it's easy. You help me find the pack Brahmin and after that I'm coming back to Goodneighbor with you." He shook his head. "Nope. You come back with me now." She crossed her arms. "You could drag me there. The moment you don't pay attention to me I will snug out of Goodneighbor again. You sure Magnolia would be happy about that?" He growled deeply. This damn girl. "Or you could chain me up somewhere where you could watch me?" she winked at him. He froze. "Not happening" Edward shouldered his heavy rifle. "So, where did you say you lost sight of the cattle?" She cheered inwardly.


End file.
